


in undertow

by ryoji



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Bodyguard Allura (Voltron), F/M, Fluff, Prince Lance (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 09:31:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13268610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryoji/pseuds/ryoji
Summary: Allura has trained her whole life to be a bodyguard for the crown prince or princess royal, to follow her father's footsteps to be the King's right hand man and protector. Instead, the king assigns her to his youngest son, Lance, the prince 7th in line to the throne.





	in undertow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Clockworkgalaxies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clockworkgalaxies/gifts).



> So I loved writing this, this is exactly something in my wheel house. My only regret is that I couldn't expand on the universe more. If I had it my way, I would have taken another week to make it twice or three times the length and flesh out everything more. I'm considering even returning to the universe later, but anyway.
> 
> This is for the Allurance Secret Santa exchange. This was written for [factorysaltedpeanuts](https://factorysaltedpeanuts.tumblr.com/) on tumblr, and I want to personally thank you for this prompt. This was so much fun to write, like I said. I hope you like this!

Allura doesn’t know what to say when the King speaks. She doesn’t hear anything past:  _ “You will serve my youngest son.” _

Allura does not even know the youngest son’s name. She  _ does _ know that he’s only seventh in line to the throne, and will only move further down as his older siblings have more children. Allura fights the frown forming by bowing her head lower, but she hasn’t been paying attention to the king, and he can definitely tell.

“Allura, your chambers will be connected to my son's. Did you need an escort?” He raises an eyebrow at her as she snaps her head up. “I assume you know the whole layout of this castle by now.” The king rests his head in his hand, tapping his other fingers against his throne, and Allura wants to groan. Usually, the king is a very patient man.

She  _ did _ know the castle layout, but she didn’t bother memorizing the unimportant parts of it, which the chambers of the youngest prince fell under. Allura clears her throat, the king eyes her patiently this time. He probably knows she hadn’t been listening, probably assumed she wouldn’t be. She almost calls him out on it, but instead she purses her lips. Hopefully, this is still a test, and hopefully Allura could serve the princess like she  _ knew _ she could.

“Your majesty, my father has served as your right hand man and bodyguard for years. I’ve been trained under him and many others since my birth.” She folds her hands, then hardens her eyes, rolling her shoulders back as she stands straighter, “ _ Of course _ I know where my assignment is. Don’t waste an escort on me.”

As she walks away, she thinks she’s in the clear, until the King clears his throat, “Allura, you're heading for the wrong hallway.” Allura’s fists tighten and she stomps her feet towards the opposite hallway. Usually, she would never put on a display like this — but she had come to know King George as an uncle of sorts, and she wasn’t expecting him to underestimate her skills either. When she hears the whispers of the king telling his servant to follow her, she bites her lip in frustration, and that’s when the name comes to her.

The person that she will sacrifice her life for, will give information for, who she will kill for, is  _ Lance _ .

Every time she ventures out into the courtyard or the stables, Lance always lowers his eyes at her, mistakes her for nobility and asks: “Lovely Lady, what are you doing going for a ride this late at night?” He always bows and kisses her hand, right before she explains that she is the daughter of Alfor, his father’s right hand man. Lance’s eyes dim just slightly in response. But like clockwork, every other month Lance will do this, and like clockwork, every other month, Allura still explains herself to him.

Other than those interactions Allura has not mingled with the youngest prince. During galas and other social events, Lance makes an effort to dance and make small talk with everyone in the room. He makes a show about  _ niceties _ , but Allura supposes that’s all Lance has to worry about, considering his siblings.

Meanwhile, Allura’s mother makes her pay attention to other guests and royalty during social events, usually the prince and princesses from their rival kingdoms. Her mother always wears her silver gown when she has the intention of tutoring Allura. She always smiles and says in the sweetest voice: “You have to look past all of it,” Her mother will then sip her wine and Allura would proceed do exactly that:  _ observe _ .

You can find out what a kingdom’s intentions are just by a guest list. The Kingdom of Teris participates in a lot of trade, sees many kingdoms come and go, being by the ocean. You can't reach many of the other kingdoms without going through Teris. You can't obtain any  _ wealth _ without obeying King George’s trade agreements. Allura’s mother always tries to encourage more than observation though. “You have to deceive, you’ll never know when you need to act like a Lady, Allura.”

Allura always snaps her head around and counters with, “I’m not a Lady. I’m going to be a bodyguard, an advisor to the king.”

She grits her teeth and walks faster to ignore the servant on her heels. After all, if she couldn’t avoid them she doesn't  deserve to be a bodyguard at all.

“Oh, wow,  _ hello _ .” Allura looks up to the voice that greets her, and scrunches her nose. Turns out she didn’t have to wait long to run into the prince. The youngest prince is dressed in blue, just like the rest of the royal family, though instead of the dark and royal blues they favored, his tunics were always in shades of light blue. He wears a permanent smile in his eyes, which might be the only trait that Allura envied from him. She takes the thought back as soon as he grabs her gloved hand, “I’ve never seen you on the floor before, my lady.”

Allura holds back a sigh, and instead tries to make her face as blank as she possibly could manage. “Your grace,” she sighs, “I was making my way to your chambers to greet you.”

Lance raises his eyebrows immediately and steps closer to her, “Oh. My chambers?” His voice is low and admittingly, sultry. Allura can see how he’s able to charm most women, he has a talent for making them feel like the only girl in the room. He kisses her hand once before stepping back, “I know who you are, come on. Follow me.” He tugs at her wrists so enthusiastically, she almost draws a dagger out of instinct.

He lets go and slows his pace as they reach the end of the halls and calls her, “Allura.” She tenses as he says her name like it’s already something he trusts, but maybe  _ he _ knew her reputation. “I’m going to apologize now, and give you a good first day,” he pauses at a door she assumes is his chambers and sighs, “After all, you have to be around a beautiful specimen such as me everyday.”

Allura narrows her eyes. She almost glares but then pauses, and tilts her head instead, “Your grace, are you practicing that charm of yours on your bodyguard? I’m happy to give you constructive criticism for the sake of the kingdom.”

Lance deflates just as easily as he rises, and Allura has the tiniest smirk on her face as he struggles with his words for a minute, “Well… _ well _ …do you get to talk to me like that?”

Another head tilt, she taps her chin once for effect, “Talk to you like what, your grace?”

He crosses his arms, his voice stern for once, “Lance, you can just call me Lance,” he says as he opens the door to the chambers. Allura stifles the gasp at the sight of her room. She is used to her room connected to her mother and father’s, still in the castle, but  _ nothing _ like what was in front of her. Lance decorated her room in lavenders and sky blues, both dyes rare anywhere else but Teris. She had her own vanity, her own weapon rack, her own  _ bath _ , and more importantly, her own balcony. She can already tell it overlooks the whole east side of the castle, facing the courtyard and below the stables.

As she runs a hand through the curtains ( _ silk _ ), Lance laughs, “I have a bookshelf and desk here, since I heard you like preserving and reading Altea’s history.” She freezes at that, because hardly any of the other royals mentioned Altea. Most of the royal families died off, the remaining taken in by different kingdoms after the Galra invaded and massacred most of their people. It wasn’t a taboo subject, but a sore spot, and none of the royals bothered to learn anything other than necessary about the fallen kingdom.

Her father had fought in the last war as just a teen. The king, then a rebellious prince, had saved his life and secured his safety forever naming him his bodyguard, and eventually right hand man. Allura had never got to seen Altea, but she consumed all its history in the books the King loaned to her. It escalated to record keeping accounts from survivors since most of them came from Teris. After all, in other kingdoms, mentioning Altea was a death sentence.

Lance clears his throat and breaks out of his usual cadence, “Anyway, I hope I’m not too difficult for you.” Allura blinks at that. She swears that the prince actually  _ did _ sound sorry for something, but she couldn’t discern what it could be about. She assumes that it must be the subject of Altea, after all, most people sounded politely somber at best when the kingdom was mentioned. When she tries to reassure him that she’s  _ supposed _ to handle difficult situations, Lance is already one foot out the door. He peeks his head back in and smirks once more, “Remember, you can come to my chamber  _ any _ time.”

Allura does glare this time, but Lance’s grin doesn’t disappear. “And remember, I will keep my chamber door locked, your life be damned.”

\---

Turns out, Lance is friendly enough. Lance is sincere and genuine, probably more than any other nobility that Allura’s had to interact with. He always knocked on Allura’s chamber doors once she had an established schedule after a week. Mostly, it’s just to talk about his day, or pen letters to his best friends Hunk and Katie. Hunk lived in an island territory that Teris had a special relationship with. While Katie lived inside Teris, but Katie traveled so much that communicating by letter was just more practical.

“Well, Hunk is just my buddy. I’ve known him since I was like, five. We bother the cooks, attempt to have sword fights, though he’s  _ so _ bad at them. He also helps me attract all the ladies to the dance floor.” Lance explains this one day that Allura is curious enough to ask, “Katie makes maps, I think. She also observes a lot of different plants and animal life, she’s really good with herbs. She tutors nobility in all the math and sciences everywhere, that’s how we met.”

Being Lance’s bodyguard was fairly simple as well. Lance interacted a lot with everyone in the castle, even the cooks and the servants. He knew everyone by name, and made an effort to listen to every citizen concern, so that was usually his main duty since the rest of his siblings found it grueling.

“Doesn’t it get tiring?” Allura asks him two weeks later, it’s one of the few conversations she’s initiated with him.

Lance shrugs and waves his hand, “It’s fine, really. Daniel just had twin boys, and Bella has always been…well, she doesn’t grasp the problems of a lot of our residents.”

Allura scoffs and the next sentence out of her mouth shows how comfortable she’s become around Lance, “She’s a spoiled rich princess.” Lance opens his mouth to defend his sister, but nothing comes out except a laugh. Allura smiles back at him, once upon a time, she did want to serve the princess. The princess was very high maintenance but also very cunning, Allura figured it would have been an interesting challenge.

She wonders (and fears) that she’s growing content with the prince. His schedule is weirdly precise, Wednesdays they would go hunting and riding, Tuesdays she would spar with him (she always won), Mondays she would sit on lessons and meetings with him, while the rest of the week is devoted to Lance’s other princely duties and desires.

Allura is restless,  _ bored _ .

It’s what makes her foolish.

One day, Allura is knocking at the prince’s chambers as usual on Wednesdays; they were supposed to be out riding once his “lunch settled”. She waited for five minutes when she shouldn’t have, because once she opens the door, there’s no guards by Lance’s door. Her eyes grow wide and readies her stance to attack, but when she opens the door, nobody is there.

A string of curses run through her mind as she demolishes the room, looking for anything a thief might have stolen, a body hidden in one of the ornate chests the prince had, or any signs of a struggle. Instead, Allura finds a note that must have been neatly placed at some point, but now lay on the floor.

_ Allura, _

_ I’m in town, come meet me. It’ll be a ton of fun! _

_ Super sorry, by the way! _

_ Lance _

Allura would scream if her job wasn’t on the line, if she didn’t have doubt and fear bubbling inside of her. This could have been a murder, it could have been a kidnapping, maybe it still was. Anybody could bait her like this, it may even be a distraction, but it’s the only lead Allura has to go on right now.

\---

She isn’t a fool.

She alerts the other palace guards of the situation, most of them laugh at her. They tell her things like, “Oh Lance! He runs off like this all the time! Don’t stress too much.”

“It’s why the king actually assigned  _ you _ as his guard, to prevent things like this.”

“We’ll send a handful of men out, but nobody can ever find that boy usually, it’s alright little lady, he’ll turn up eventually.”

They  _ all _ patronized her.

She does feel a shred of sympathy for the prince, if only because now it’s abundantly clear that  _ nobody _ paid attention to how he chose to spend the day. She wonders if the king hasn’t bothered because of the queen's doting nature, or does Lance feign irresponsibility on purpose? Does he already know he’d never be king and shunned the idea of any work entirely in response? Allura doesn't know. She also can't believe that she cares. 

She walks through the town, for once not dressed in armor, but conveniently armed to the teeth. Her long gray dress makes her blend in with the crowd, but also allows her to hide many weapons with her sheath. She closes her eyes and concentrates. Even if none of the other guards could find Lance,  _ she _ has to be the one to be able to.

She snaps her eyes open when she hears it; Lance laughing to who she assumes is a girl,  _ “Thanks, people compliment my eyes all the time.” _

Allura curses to herself, because Lance is definitely a fool. Everyone in the royal family has the same blue eyes, electric and striking, but most important they all have a brand that marks them as chosen. Rumor has it that it once represented a presence of magic back when it was plentiful in the world, but most believe it's simply a divine sign, a blessing from their Gods.

She rushes towards the crowd, finding Lance talking to a fortune teller of some kind, her long light brown hair in a braid and incessantly giggling. Lance leans in and pulls a flower from seemingly nowhere near her ears, the fortune teller is full on laughing now, “Is that the only magic trick you know, prince?”

Lance makes a shushing motion with his fingertips, but he’s laughing just as much as the girl. Allura clears her throat and strides towards the stand, calling him, “Lance.”

Lance groans and leans back against the display, “Look what you did. My handler found me Genevieve.”

Genevieve looks Allura from top to bottom, then covers her mouth with both of her hands excitedly, “I didn’t know bodyguards could be  _ women _ now,” she exclaims.

Allura doesn’t respond to that but instead grabs Lance by the wrist and tugs him towards her, ordering him right in his ear, “We’re leaving, Lance.”

The grateful thing about Lance is he doesn’t protest, just turns back to the fortune teller and sighs dramatically, “Well, I must be off my sweet Genevieve.” Allura tugs at him harder, rolling her eyes, seeing Lance’s attitude around women is much more annoying from the outside.

After Allura maneuvers through the market crowd with no issues, she breathes a sigh of relief, but doesn’t address Lance in other way besides grabbing his arm to walk beside him. They walk in silence on the way to castle, and Allura notes this is the most quiet either of them has ever been around each other. Usually, even on rides and spars Lance would always make a point to compete with her, or to interact with the staff at the castle. She figures Lance could endure any kind of silence, since even most of his princely duties also consisted of socializing and talking.

Maybe he does feel sorry for what he’s done.

Lance finally does sigh once though, but doesn’t bother to face her as he speaks, “Are you going to give me the cold shoulder?”

“We can talk when we get the castle. We don’t want to arouse any suspicion,” Allura quickly reassures, struggling to keep her tone neutral.

“Genevieve knows I’m the prince, nobody else knows,” Lance stares down on the floor, mumbling, “Not that anyone notices or cares anyway.”

“Lance, are you pouting?” Allura asks in an attempt to be teasing, but she’s sure she sounds frustrated instead since Lance doesn’t bother with a retort. She sighs and tries speaking again, “It’s dangerous for you to be out without an escort. Those people would rob, kill, or kidnap you all for a little bit of coin, even if they knew who you were. They’d most definitely lie to you for less than that.”

“Who’s fault is that?” Lance snaps back, and Allura reels just from how serious he sounds. Somehow, he doesn’t sound anymore harsh or hardened, just even more confident and passionate. “My family continues to turn its back on my people, for the sake of peace and their own riches. At this point they’re deluding themselves when they say it’s for their safety,  _ my _ safety.”

Allura blinks and tries her best to remain quiet, she doesn’t even say anything as Lance kicks the ground as they walk. As soon as they make their way out of common streets and closer to the castle and the rest of mobility, she clears her throat, “Where did this come from, Lance?”

She doesn’t have to specify what  _ this _ is, Lance stops walking and faces her, no glint or shine in his eyes of any kind. He rubs his arm once and starts to explain, “Rumor has it that Prince Lotor comes to Teris outside of balls and galas we hold. He comes here without either of his parents and doesn’t inform my kingdom of his visits. I wanted to figure out what he was doing—”

“ _ Alone _ ?”

“Let me finish,” Lance gently replies. She wonders if he’s using the tone out of politeness, hearing about the Galra prince is enough to make Allura’s head spin in anger. “My dad is trying to become allies with the Galra, negotiating with King Zarkon and all that. And while the royal family is here…I’ve been given the task of entertaining Lotor.”

Allura doesn’t know what to say, from the way Lance is standing and looking at her, he knows he wants her judgment. This may be the first serious task that the king has ever given him, but she already knows it’s one that Lance would excel at. Lance is a natural diplomat, maybe not trained in negotiating, but he’s charming and polite, plus has the added benefit of seeming innocent enough. She knows that someone with a memory and knack for people like Lance is  _ never _ innocent enough.

So, she doesn’t know why she asks, but she does. “Why you?” Allura asks the question with no venom in her voice, no emphasis on either the why or you, but keeps the neutral tone that she’s been struggling to maintain all day around Lance. She wonders if that’s worse, considering how Lance just  _ looks _ at her and gives her a sad smile, hand in his hair and looking past her, as if he’s contemplating something.

“Well, my older brother is busy, you know with the new twins, the whole becoming a king once my dad falls over and dies thing, he’s always too busy for things like this. I’m sure he’ll make an  _ appearance _ , but he’ll be sitting with Zarkon, with my mother and father. As for my  _ sister _ …” Lance sneers at the word sister, though it sounds like he almost laughs, as if he’s surprised by his own viciousness towards his siblings. Now that Allura thinks about it, Lance’s siblings were the only people he treated with any sort of hostility. He clears his throat, “My father didn’t want to give the wrong idea having a one on one meeting with Lotor, you know, marriage and all of that. She will again, probably make an appearance, but her presence will be sparse until we all have dinner together as a family.”

Allura spits out what’s been bubbling inside of her, neutrality and strictness be damned, “You can’t sit alone with Prince Lotor.”

“I wasn’t  _ going _ to be alone.” Lance closes the distance between them then and takes one of her hands, leading her further down the path, whispering, “That’s why I have you Allura, for tasks like this. Don’t you see? You can help me prove myself to my father. Look, Allura, I know I won’t ever be king, but my siblings, they do everything wrong. They don’t pay attention to their civilians, or to  _ you _ , Allura, an Altean.” He squeezes her hand and pulls her towards the edge of the path, continuing to whisper, continuing to babble, “I think that will eventually be Teris’s downfall, and that’s not what I want. I want to prove to my father that I can  _ fix _ things, that I have worth, or at least get him to listen to me. You understand, don’t you?”

She feels all the excuses and support die in her throat simultaneously. Of  _ course _ she understood the need to be recognized by your father. Of course she understood the need to be listened and your talents to be appreciated. Allura doesn’t want to admit how many talents Lance has, and how being in a confined space with him has gotten her to care about him more than any of their interactions in extravagant balls or in the courtyards. When Lance was  _ himself _ is when he’s the most charming and genuine, it’s when he’s at his best, and also, his most royal.

Lance would have been a great king, but this world would never give him the chance.

Instead, the only thing that rises out of her throat is a single vapid statement, “You’re a  _ fool _ ,” she spits at him before creating distance between them again. “You made me run around to look for you, for some  _ rumor _ , some rumor that you should have never investigated on your own. Then you tell me that I’m to…benefit?  _ You _ ? I do not want to be in a room with any of those Galra, not after what they’ve done to my family. On top of that, Lance, I know the loneliness I feel is nothing compared to the experiences these other Altean refugees had. I know I’m not a fighter like them, I know that my suffering cannot  _ compare _ ,” she opts to take a single deep breath rather than finish her sentence. There’s a hidden statement there, that she knows that she could never be the war hero her father was. There’s an even deeper resentment in there, that by serving the youngest crown prince, seventh in line to the throne, she could never make any type of impact.

She can't indulge Lance’s fantasies like she has the ability to change anything.

“It’s your job to be in that room with me,” Lance calls back at her. Before Lance spoke, she hadn’t realized how much farther down the path she had gone, how she had just walked away from him once she released those feelings. Losing Lance made her realize she hardly deserved the easy life he gave her initially in her first three weeks of service, and this talk with him served to remind her that she isn’t ready for a meeting with the Galra prince.

Maybe the king never underestimated her at all, and maybe she was the fool for thinking otherwise.

She waits for him to catch up to her and she grabs his waist to lean against his shoulder once he’s in front of her. She feels Lance bristle at the touch, but relax when she doesn’t instantly push away, but instead lets her hair fall all over her face hidden in his shoulder. “This is incredibly inappropriate,” Allura mumbles.

“It’s okay,” Lance shrugs his shoulders, but doesn’t make any effort to move her away still, just chuckles, “I mean nobody pays attention to me, much less my bodyguard.”

She laughs, “Oh, hush.” This time she does pull away, still opting to take his hand, they swung their arms as they walked slowly to the castle. Allura can only stay silent for a few minutes before explaining herself, “I’m just…I was just mad Lance, you shouldn’t have run off like that. You shouldn’t do anything by yourself, I shouldn’t have implied otherwise. It’s  _ just _ , if thought you could gather that information by yourself, then you could also sit with Prince Lotor for lunch or hunting or whatever by yourself.”

Lance hums once in thought before making his point, “You  _ do _ know that my parents would never let me go on a hunting trip with Lotor, with or without you. After all hunting accidents are easily one of the most common ways us royals get assassinated.”

“Don’t talk like that!” Allura slaps his arm once and Lance just grins back at her, Allura gives him one warning glare before she goes on, “I’m just scared Lance. I know Teris has always made itself neutral to the Galra and their affairs, but trying to negotiate and become their allies? Teris may not be able to offer enough at some point, the Galra…they’re almost an empire at this point, everyone fears them, except this kingdom.”

“Keyword:  _ except _ this kingdom,” Lance stops before they enter the castle walls, and he sneaks around the walls, to an underground entrance he used used to avoid the guards. Allura tries not to think how cramped it is down here, especially when Lance opts to still hold her hand to guide her through the darkness. They’re silent now, Allura not wanting to say anymore of her fears, and Lance not wanting to push any more buttons today.

Though right when she starts seeing light from the castle again, Lance says one last thing, “Besides, Allura. I would never let anything happen to you, after all, you’d never let anything happen to me.”

\---

The arrival of the royal Galra family times with the winter festival a month later. Teris made every excuse to throw all kinds of parties, and the start of the seasons is just one of the ways they worship the gods. Teris didn’t experience the blizzards other countries did, being so closer to the southern coast of the continent, and they considered this a blessing. For a week, many vendors served their best foods, sold their best clothes for the upcoming cold months, and welcomed the travelers escaping cold weather from other kingdoms.

Tonight, marking the arrival of the Galra and many others, there is a ball and party to honor them. Allura stares at herself in her gown for the fourth time that night, she got ready early, simply because she was eager to see what Lance had picked out for her. She’s dressed in a sky blue gown, not royal family colors, but  _ Lance _ colors. It’s simple and breathable, except for the rose pattern that adorned her sleeves and breasts. She wore white gloves as well in order to keep warm, her white hair falling over her shoulders. She sighs, flipping some of her curls towards her back and frowning. She rarely ever got the chance to dress up and it’s one of the few things she resents about being a bodyguard. Allura groans and laments to herself that if she  _ was _ a bodyguard for the princess, then she would probably be attending events like these more regularly.

“Beautiful as always,” Lance says behind her, and Allura jumps. She swore she locked the door, but maybe the handmaiden had let him in, Allura glances around the room and curiously, she finds her gone. 

“Yes, well. The handmaiden is the one that added the glitter and blush to my cheeks. I  _ swear _ , calling more attention to my Altean markings will just upset the Galra, Lance.” She tries not to sound giddy saying it, but she can’t help it, they really did call attention to the best features about her face.

Judging by the smile on Lance’s face, he isn’t fooled either, just makes a small humming sound as he looks her up once and down again. “It’s…actually amazing she didn’t make any other adjustments, not that she needed to. No, definitely not.” His cheeks turn pink and hesitates for just a moment, before locking the door behind him and clearing his throat, “I have something for you.”

Allura quirks an eyebrow up and steps towards him, “What is it?”

Lance looks down at the ground and reaches into his suit pocket, his hands opening up immediately to reveal a silver pin of a lion, with small sapphires adorning it’s mane. It’s fairly simple, besides the markings the lion had on its face, mimicking Allura’s very own. Allura gasps immediately at the sight, “It’s the Goddess, the Altean Goddess. Lance, how did you do this? I’ve only seen this in paintings, I’ve only ever seen one!”

“I want you to wear it!” Lance blurts out while placing it in her palm, his cheeks growing more red, “I mean, put it on one of your roses or something. I just—it’s nothing—I had it made for you, so she could be with you, to give you strength, so…so you know…” This time he shrugs and takes a deep breath, squeezing onto her gloved palms, “You’re a good bodyguard Allura. You’re more than just my babysitter Allura, you deserve to be better than my babysitter.”

She doesn’t even hold back the tears forming in her eyes, or the smile spreading across her face, just chokes out, “Thank you.”

“Hey…don’t cry, I meant that. I mean all of this.” Lance tugs her closer to him and takes the pin from her palm, letting her wipe her tears for a brief moment before giving her another reassuring smile, “Here, let me put it on you.”

Allura nods and stands straight for him, she closes her eyes so she doesn’t have to focus on him adjusting the roses on her chest. She finds herself opening them again out of anticipation, watching him clip the pin on her right side, she almost finds herself squealing but her breath catches instead. Lance is staring up at her, for once nearly at her eye level, and she never noticed that along with being electric, his blue eyes are  _ deep _ . She knows that’s how others must feel when they look at him. Lance has been able to make her feel like the only person in the room from the very first moment she met him, but  _ now _ , now she understands that he doesn’t even realize that.

His eyelashes flutter once and take a look at her, and he leans up just lightly to lean into her ear, squeezing onto her for dear life as he whispers, “I’m going to kiss you now, if that’s okay?”

She nods, she lets him kiss her for a full minute, gripping onto her arms, her shoulders, and nearly messing up the pin that he just gifted to her.

After all, nobody pays attention to the youngest prince and his bodyguard.

**Author's Note:**

> I am on [tumblr](http://seto.tumblr.com) and [twitter](http://twitter.com/heired)!


End file.
